This is the final Astro Journal post and we end with an extract from the January chapter of Astro Journal 2022:
...The Sun and Mercury start the month with Pluto and retrograde Venus in Capricorn. ... Venus has been retrograde in Capricorn since 19 December 2021 and has been in an unusually long conjunction with Pluto since the end of November. She formed two exact alignments with Pluto in December 2021 and they remain in orb until 10 January. The conjunction returns into orb from 21 February to 10 March, with a final exact alignment on 3 March.
Retrograde Venus in Capricorn brings a practical approach to relationships and a need for commitment or seriousness, as well as a desire for influence and power, and perhaps control of resources. Depending on the house placement, it may influence your feelings about your social status, and there could be disruption to money and business dealings, or unfinished business to take care of.
Venus retrograde conjunct Pluto represents a potential initiation into the transformation of your finances, values and relationships by increasing the pressure and adding intensity and passion. It could also stir up feelings of jealousy, envy, and obsession, leading to power struggles or issues with control.
Meanwhile, Mars is in Sagittarius and square Neptune for most of the month, becoming exact on the 11th but remaining in orb until he moves into Capricorn in the final week. This is a good month to act on your dreams and ideals and work towards a vision. You may have a desire to transcend the physical world and escape the body but this could create tensions and confusion. Your energy levels could also be low.
Mars square Neptune could also get you caught up in fantasies, self-deception or unrealistic expectations over your abilities and ambitions or goals. You could just as easily underestimate as overestimate yourself or end up chasing deceptive goals – tilting at windmills. Mars escapes Neptune when he enters Capricorn, the sign of his exaltation where he can get back down to earth and act in more realistic ways. This is when you might discover that some of your previous goals were unrealistic.
On the 2nd, the New Moon in Capricorn is trine Uranus and square Chiron, triggering the Saturn Uranus square, while Mercury and Venus both conjunct Pluto, but not each other. The emphasis on earthy Capricorn and Taurus is stabilising and potentially constructive, but Mercury has just dipped his toe into fixed Aquarius making the mind more stubborn and idealistic.
Meanwhile, retrograde Venus is close to her conjunction with the Sun so she’s getting ready to burn up and be reborn. The inferior conjunction happens a few days later on the 9th, square the Moon, trine Uranus, sextile Neptune, and conjunct Pluto. Mercury is also conjunct Saturn and square Uranus and getting ready to go retrograde.
This is a powerful combination of energies and with the right balance, you can gain profound and transformative insights. It’s a good time to meditate on your values and relationships and make intentions for the future, but remember that Mars is square Neptune. Seeds planted now will bear fruit at the superior conjunction in October. Venus stations direct on the 29th but doesn’t leave her retrograde shadow until early March.
On the 14th, Mercury stations retrograde conjunct Saturn in Aquarius, square Uranus, trine the Moon, and sextile Chiron. The Sun is also conjunct Pluto and sextile Neptune, while Mars is opposite the Moon in a T-Square with Neptune. This combination could bring new ideas and the potential to make radical changes, but there will also be lots of irritability, confusion and possible deception.
On the 17th, the Full Moon in Cancer sees the Sun conjunct Pluto and the Moon opposite Pluto and trine Neptune. Retrograde Mercury is conjunct Saturn and both are square Uranus. Venus is also trine Uranus and Mars is square Neptune. This combination stirs up profound and deep feelings and a need for emotional security, but could also trigger power struggles and issues around willpower. Compassionate Neptune provides some relief but might just mislead.
The next day Uranus stations direct and about three hours later the true North Node enters Taurus. Retrograde Mercury conjunct Saturn is now opposite the Moon in Leo in a T-Square with Uranus. The Sun is still opposite the Moon and conjunct Pluto, and Mars is still square Neptune. This will feel incredibly tense and could trigger a sudden release of energies, truth or revelations that have been held back – channel it constructively.
On the 23rd, retrograde Mercury reaches his inferior conjunction with the Sun trine the Moon, while the Sun is also conjunct Pluto and square Uranus, which is also trine Venus and square Saturn. Now is the time to plant seeds and find new ideas about how you can increase your freedom and independence in relationships. These seeds will sprout when Mercury goes direct in February and then flower at the superior conjunction in April.
Here’s a breakdown of the month by date:
1 Jan – Sun trine Uranus
2 Jan – Mercury enters Aquarius, New Moon at 12° Capricorn
3 Jan – Jupiter square the moon nodes, Mercury trine true north node
5 Jan – Venus retrograde sextile Neptune
9 Jan – Sun conjunct Venus retrograde at 18° Capricorn – inferior conjunction
10 Jan – Mercury sextile Chiron
11 Jan – Sun sextile Neptune, Mars square Neptune
14 Jan – Mercury stations retrograde at 10° Aquarius
16 Jan – Sun conjunct Pluto at 26° Capricorn
17 Jan – Full Moon at 27° Cancer
18 Jan – Mercury retrograde sextile Chiron, Uranus stations direct at 10° Taurus, True North Node enters Taurus
19 Jan – Sun trine true north node
20 Jan – Sun enters Aquarius
23 Jan – Sun conjunct Mercury retrograde at 3° Aquarius – inferior conjunction
24 Jan – Mars enters Capricorn
26 Jan – Mercury retrograde enters Capricorn, Mercury retrograde trine true north node
29 Jan – Sun sextile Chiron, Mercury retrograde conjunct Pluto at 26° Capricorn, Venus stations direct at 11° Capricorn
30 Jan – Sun square Uranus
Extracted from Astro Journal 2022
Note: these dates are for GMT/UT. Check the details for your time zone at Astro-Seek where you can also look at the charts for all the alignments.
If you would like more details about the coming year, you can get your copy of Astro Journal 2022 in paperback or Kindle from Amazon here, or in EPUB from my Payhip store here.
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